An industrial pallet truck is utilized to lift and transport loads between locations. The operator of the pallet truck may be required to move loads repeatedly on and off of the pallet truck within a very short period of time, and is often required to move specific inventory from various locations in what is termed “picking.” During this practice, it is desirable that the operator can leave the pallet truck and pick a load while the pallet truck continues to move in the direction of the next load. To avoid inadvertent vehicle travel, pallet trucks have a dead-man mechanism that engage a vehicle brake in the event that the operator leaves the pallet truck and releases the control arm. It is not always practical for the operator to continue to hold the control arm in a non-braking position when leaving the pallet truck and moving to the next pick location. The coast control system is able to retard, or override, the dead-man brake mechanism, allowing the pallet truck to coast. The coast control system typically holds the control arm in a fixed or variable position between vertical and horizontal, such that the vehicle brake does not become engaged, and the pallet truck is allowed to coast to a stop in a controlled manner.
A problem associated with certain designs known in the art includes mechanisms which are subject to accelerated breakdown and wear due to environmental conditions. Some designs provide for exposed mechanisms which after a period of time may not function correctly in certain environments. These environments may include locations having low temperatures, high humidity or where the air contains high particulate counts. Other designs include complex or hard to access mechanisms which may be difficult to replace or repair. Still other designs known in the art include steering arms that are locked in a fixed vertical position, for example by a steering arm brake. Locking the steering arm has the undesirable result of impeding a movement of the steering arm towards a vehicle braking position, for example towards a horizontal steering arm position when the operator is attempting to brake the vehicle.
The present invention addresses these and other problems associated with the prior art.